Effective Dates: 03/08/2019 - Present Previous | Next

Basic (03-19)

GN 01757.120 U.S. Totalization Benefits under the Agreement with Brazil

Under the agreement, if a number holder (NH) has at least six U.S. quarters of coverage (QC) but not enough to receive regular U.S. benefits, count the NH's periods of coverage under the Brazilian social security system to permit the NH to qualify for U.S. totalization benefits. If the NH has enough QCs under the U.S. system to receive regular U.S. benefits, do not count Brazilian credits.

A. Adjudicating claims under the Agreement

1. Field office responsibilities for processing claims under the agreement

Take an initial claim to process the insured status denial when an NH does not have enough U.S. coverage to meet fully insured status, but the NH has at least six QCs. The initial denial automatically generates a notice that informs the NH that he or she does not meet the insured status requirement based on U.S. coverage alone, and we will request the applicant’s Brazilian coverage record.

2. Division of International Operations (DIO) responsibilities

Request the applicant’s Brazilian coverage record and convert Brazilian periods of coverage on the Brazilian record to United States QCs before adjudicating the claim.

B. Crediting Brazilian coverage under the agreement

Credit one U.S. QC for every three months of Brazilian coverage in a calendar year. Do not credit:

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    Brazilian coverage credited for periods prior to 1937;

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    Any month in a calendar quarter that is already credited as a U.S. QC;

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    More than four QCs for any calendar year; or

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    Any period of coverage not based on contributions

C. Computing benefits

When we establish U.S. insured status based on combined U.S. and Brazilian coverage, we compute the amount of the U.S. totalization benefit using the computation method described in GN 01701.200.

D. References

GN 01702.315 Processing Totalization Insured-Status Notices in Claims for U.S. Benefits

GN 01702.320 Routing of Claims for Foreign Benefits

GN 01702.325 Summary of Field Office Development and Processing of U.S. Totalization Claims and Foreign Claims (Regular and Totalization)

To Link to this section - Use this URL:
http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0201757120
GN 01757.120 - U.S. Totalization Benefits under the Agreement with Brazil - 03/08/2019
Batch run: 03/03/2025
Rev:03/08/2019